In 2017, Hilton announced that it would be dropping Citi as a partner for their co-branded credit cards. Now with an exclusive partnership with American Express, Hilton offers three intriguing credit cards to choose from.

Hilton Honors Card (no annual fee)
Hilton Honors Ascend® Card (mid-tier card; $95 annual fee)
Hilton Honors Aspire® Card (premium card; $450 annual fee)

Which Hilton card is right for you? See a side by side comparison of all three cards.

The $95 per year Ascend Card is American Express’ mid-tier Hilton product. With its vast number of perks and benefits, it’s rather easy to earn way more in value than the card costs each year.

On top of earning 125,000 Hilton Honors points after meeting the minimum spending requirements, you also get perks such as complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status, no foreign transaction fees and the chance to earn a free night award.

Who is this card for?

This card is a great option for semi-frequent guests of Hilton properties and those looking to quickly build their Hilton points balance. One of the main highlights of the card is the complimentary Hilton Gold Status (with the chance to move to Platinum Status after meeting a minimum spend requirement). This is the only way for many people who don’t travel frequently enough to get access to status and the benefits it provides. You’ll also benefit from high earning rates on stays with Hilton, at U.S. restaurants, supermarkets and gas stations.

You can apply for the Hilton Honors Ascend® Card from American Express here.

Card Features

Bonus Offer

You’ll earn 125,000 bonus points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first three months. That’s good enough for a free night at a top-tier property or several nights at a lower-tier property. I’ve seen the sign-up bonus vary between 75,000 and 150,000 points, so it might pay to wait if the current offer isn’t enticing enough.

You can redeem 80,000 points for an award night at the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai and still have some of your welcome bonus left. (Photo courtesy Hilton Hotels)

Annual Fee

The card comes with a $95 annual fee.

Earning Rates

The earnings rate on stays at Hilton properties are pretty incredible, so frequent stays at Hilton properties can quickly supercharge your points balance. You’ll earn:

12 points per $1 spent at Hilton properties
6 points per $1 spent at U.S. restaurants, supermarkets and gas stations
3 points per $1 on all other spending

This card also comes with complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status, which further enhances the earnings rate on Hilton stays. Gold status earns an 80% bonus over Member status, which is 18 points per $1 spent. So when you combine the earnings rates from the card and status, you’ll earn 30 points for every dollar spent at Hilton properties.

If you have a Hilton points goal you are striving to achieve, then using this card to pay for dining, groceries and gas can really help you reach that goal quickly.

You’ll earn bonus points at Hilton properties, but also at U.S. restaurants, grocery stores and gas stations.

However, if you have no specific Hilton goal in mind, you may want to think twice about using the card for anything other than Hilton stays. Hilton points are typically valued at 0.5 cents per point. So getting 6x points equals a return of 3%. There are other cards you could use on dining, groceries and gas that give you a greater return and/or more flexibility.

Other Card Options

Dining – The American Express® Gold Card ($250 annual fee) earns 4x points on all dining purchases. Points earned in their Membership Rewards program are transferable for air and hotel travel, including transfers to Hilton. Membership Rewards are worth around 2 cents per point making the return about 8%.
Groceries – The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express ($95 annual fee) earns 6% at U.S. supermarkets. The Amex Gold Card is another great option as it earns 4x MR points on all grocery purchases for an 8% return.
Gas – The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi (no annual fee) earns 4% cash back on gas purchases. The Blue Cash Preferred® Card earns 3% back.

Because a standard room at one of Hilton’s luxury hotels can cost up to 95,000 points per night, spending on these other cards may be more valuable than earning Hilton points.

Redeeming Points

Hilton allows you to redeem points for gift cards, merchandise, and premium rooms. You can also transfer points to airlines at a rate of 10:1. None of these options are very enticing, in my opinion, so I would always look to redeem for standard award nights.

Hilton now uses a variable award chart, so you can never be totally sure how much an award night is going to cost. However, you can get a pretty good idea by looking into some of your desired properties.

When searching a property, check the “Use Flexible Dates” box to see how much an award night will cost over several weeks. For example, the Hilton Austin will cost 60,000 per night anytime between Jan 25, 2019 and Feb 11, 2019. Two other downtown properties, the Hilton Garden Inn Austin Downtown and the Hampton Inn Austin Downtown cost 50,000 and 60,000 points respectively.

Example search of award night cost for the Hilton Austin in early 2019:

You can also consider using Hilton’s Points & Money option which allows you to book a night using both points and cash. The tool has a convenient slider that shows you how much cash would be needed if you spend less points.

Hilton Points & Money — The slider tool allows you to play around with different points/cash options.

Card Benefits

Hilton Honors Gold Status

As long as your account is open and in good standing, you’ll receive complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status. The perks of this status are the increased earnings rate on Hilton stays, room upgrades and free breakfast. Plus, if you spend $40,000 in a calendar year and you can earn an upgrade to Hilton Honors Diamond status through the end of the next calendar year.

Annual Free Nights

You can earn a free weekend award from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on purchases on your Card in a calendar year. This is valid at almost any property in the Hilton portfolio, so you can realistically get between $300 and $500 in value. And if used creatively, you can get value into the thousands of dollars at some exotic hotels. Prior to the pandemic, free night awards were only valid on weekends, but they are now redeemable any night of the week.

You can redeem your free weekend night award at the Conrad Maldives, which normally goes for over $1,000 per night. (Photo courtesy Hilton Hotels)

Fifth Night Free

When redeeming points for a standard room award, every fifth night is free.

Priority Pass

With the card, you’ll receive 10 lounge visits each year that you can use at 1,200+ VIP airport lounges worldwide with Priority Pass™ Select. Additional passes cost $27.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

For those who travel internationally, this card does not charge foreign transaction fees.

Other Travel Benefits

The card carries secondary collision damage waiver but no trip delay reimbursement or lost baggage insurance. If you’re renting a car, you should always try to use a card that provides primary collision damage waiver like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® or Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

Amex Offers

Amex Offers is a free program that saves you money or earns you points on shopping, dining and more. You choose offers from brands you love and get discounts in the form of statement credits or as extra points.

To redeem an offer, simply select the offer you want to add to your card. Then use your card to pay and see the savings or points add up on your statement.

Purchase Protection

This benefit covers your new purchases for 90 days against damage or theft up to $1,000 per occurrence and $50,000 per account per calendar year. As always, make sure you read the fine print for benefit terms and conditions. But you’ll sleep easy knowing your new, big purchases are covered.

Extended Warranty Protection

With this benefit, you can extend the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by one additional year. This applies to eligible warranties of three years or less.

Who should look for another card?

While you can get great value out of this card, people who are adverse to paying annual fees may want to opt for the no-fee Hilton Honors Card instead.

If the annual fee doesn’t bother you, other hotel brands offer competing products. The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card comes with a $95 annual fee and a welcome bonus of 75,000 Marriott points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months. While the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Card comes with an $89 annual fee and a welcome bonus of 140,000 IHG points after spending $3,000 in the first three months.

If you don’t want to be locked into one program, then a flexible points card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card may be a better fit. It also has a $95 annual fee and comes with a 50,000 Ultimate Rewards point bonus after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months. These points can be used in a variety of ways, including transferring to Hyatt, Marriott and IHG for hotel stays.

Bottom Line

American Express now offers a trio of great Hilton-branded cards, and there’s likely a card to suit everybody’s unique needs. The Hilton Honors Ascend® Card is a strong offering in the crowded mid-tier credit card space. With a lucrative sign-up bonus, big-time earning rates and several valuable perks, it’s a great option for those who visit Hilton properties at least a little bit or are looking to quickly build a big Hilton points balance. While it doesn’t offer the flexibility of a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred®, it could make your next stay at a Hilton property even more rewarding.

Apply here for the Hilton Honors Ascend® Card from American Express.